


How 12.02 Should End

by Mad_Birdy



Series: Sastiel Love Week October 2016 [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sastiel Love Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 18:51:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8812123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mad_Birdy/pseuds/Mad_Birdy
Summary: Written for Day One of Sastiel Love Week October 2016!Prompt was: their favorite things about each other





	

Sam leans against the wall of the staircase, angry tears on his cheeks as his foot and leg pulse with pain. So close, he'd been so… close. Unbidden, his mind replays the hallucinations, the faces and voices accusing him. Slowly, they grow louder and louder until--

“Sam Winchester.” It's Castiel’s voice, from the first time they met. He closes his eyes and focuses on the memory, letting it replay. He remembers how, for a while, he'd been the fanboy, the side character on the Dean and Castiel show. Cas didn't care about him, couldn't have cared, because of his “profound bond” or whatever.

It wasn't until Cas pulled him from hell (even if the method was flawed) that Sam started to think that maybe Cas cared about him too. That year was… confusing. Hell, then breaking the wall in his mind, then all the hallucinations disappearing because Cas took his madness. “I was lost until I took on your pain.”

“Nothing is worth losing you.” He remembers the soft brush of Castiel’s fingers over his forehead, healing him after extracting Gadreel’s grace. “You know, being human, it didn't just change my view of food. It changed my view of you.” The angel had been so blunt, so honest.

Sam loved that about him. His honesty, his bravery when it came to speaking his mind and standing up for what he thought was right. But his favorite thing about Castiel, by far, was the way he seemed to understand Sam's needs.

The hunter was supposed to be the strong one. He saved people, he was there to protect them when they needed it. And all too often that meant that Sam had no protection but what he could give himself. There was no one else who could be bigger and stronger than him, to keep him safe from his fears and his mind. Cas had changed that. Cas could be bigger and stronger than him, could hold him close in a hug and make him feel oh so small.

That is his favorite thing. Cas lets him be weak, lets him be small, lets him be hurt. And he doesn't shame him, doesn't sneer, doesn't pity. Just understands and cares for him.

There's noise outside the door and Sam pays half attention to it. He's still remembering the feel of Cas’ hand on his forehead. The door creaks open but he doesn't notice it until a real hand brushes his forehead. “Sam?” His eyes fly open to meet the familiar, startlingly blue ones.

~~~

The pain, fear, and disbelief in Sam's eyes almost breaks him. As it is, Castiel immediately falls to his knees next to Sam, hands gripping his face gently to get a sense of his injuries. “Cas…” Sam's voice is rough, as if he's been yelling, and the angel nods.

“I'm here, Sam. We're here.” He motions with his head to the doorway, where Dean has Toni's hands behind her back and Mary's watching the way her other son and the angel are clinging to each other. Cas catches the way Sam's pressing on a cut on his left hand and swiftly engulfs the long, lithe fingers with both of his hands. “We're real.” The words are soft but Sam hears them all the same, and gratitude fills his eyes.

Sam nods and tries to stand, groaning and almost falling. Castiel reaches out again, helps him up, and moves to heal his gunshot. “Wait, Cas,” Sam bats his hand away. “You were sigil banished. Are you at full strength?”

“I'm strong enough to help, Sam.” Cas asks with his eyes, hoping Sam will let him heal him as much as he can. Finally, the hunter nods, and Cas heals his leg and removes any lingering effects of the hallucinogenic injection. Sam throws his arm around Cas’ shoulders as support, and the angel's arm wraps around Sam's thin waist.

Sam tries not to shiver at just how right the arm around his waist feels, and Cas frowns as he's reminded that Sam hasn’t been in the best health recently. Together, they walk back to the Impala, Mary and Dean in front with Toni cuffed between them, and Sam and Cas in the back. If Cas happened to lean against the door to give Sam room to get comfortable, well… and if Sam happened to end up sprawling all over Cas with his face buried in his chest and arms wrapped around him under the trench coat… no one else was gonna say anything about it.

Cas absently runs his fingers through Sam's hair as the hunter finds real, helpful sleep for the first time in a week. This, this is his favorite thing about Sam. How this human, who he had betrayed and hurt in the past, still finds it in his heart to forgive and trust him. That Sam trusts him enough to be vulnerable with him shows just how much he loves Cas. And that is his favorite thing. Well, besides the cute little noises of content Sam makes as he sleeps.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written after 12.01 but before 12.02 aired. Needless to say I was disappointed with the writers upon seeing 12.02, but that will be addressed in a later headcanon.


End file.
